UNDP in Moldova

First inter-municipal agreement to provide sanitation services in six villages of Telenesti and Sangerei districts

05 Jul 2013

Mayors of villages Inesti, Banesti, Verejeni, Mandresti and Ratus from the district of Teleneşti and the mayor of Prepelita village in Sangerei, together with the mayor of the city of Telenesti, signed an inter-municipal cooperation agreement that will allow to jointly collect and dispose of their domestic waste. Photo: UNDP

Seven mayors from Teleneşti and Sangerei changed, for one day, the mayor suit for a sanitation worker vest. The mayors of villages Inesti, Banesti, Verejeni, Mandresti and Ratus from the district of Teleneşti and the mayor of Prepelita village in Sangerei, together with the mayor of the city of Telenesti, signed an inter-municipal cooperation agreement that will allow the participating localities to jointly collect and dispose of their domestic waste.

The agreement provides that more than 20 thousand people will get access to a quality waste disposal service, for the first time in the history of these towns.

“This agreement will allow us to get what people expect from us: quality services and a cleaner village,” Tudor Turcanu, mayor of Ratus, said at the signing ceremony. Along with the launch of the waste disposal service, the town also plans to eliminate all unauthorized dumps. Vasile Panzaru, mayor of Prepelita, thanked the other mayors for letting his village participate in the joint service despite it being from another district. “We want to have a cleaner village, too,” Prepelita mayor said.

After the signing ceremony, the mayors, wearing special vests, got on the sanitation truck and went to Inesti to show how the new service will operate. They spoke with the people about the procedure to get the service, and collected several bags of trash.

“If the truck comes every week, I would like to use the service,” says a resident of Inesti. “We want our village to develop, but also would like to educate the people to think in a more environmentally-friendly way,” explains Ludmila Manoli, mayor of Inesti.

In 2008-2009, the city of Telenesti was helped by the United Nations Development Programme and the National Regional Development Fund to create one of the strongest sanitation services in Moldova. The current technical capacity and services of the municipal sanitation company exceed its working capacity from the Soviet period (it has an ecological landfill, new waste collection containers and better waste disposal trucks, and uses a system of individual contracts with customers).

“We hope that this first inter-municipal cooperation project will serve as a model for other regions. We will continue to support reforms that contribute to improving the lives of all people,” said Narine Sahakyan, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Moldova, at the event.

“Signing the agreement is only the first step. We have now to convince the villagers to sign contracts with the sanitation company, establish truck itineraries in every village, and then launch the service itself,” explains mayor of the city of Telenesti, Vadim Lelic. The service will be provided based on individual contracts between the sanitation company and customers. Mayors will urge villagers to sign contracts so that the truck can make its first ride on August 1. The monthly subscription to the service will not exceed 8 lei per person.

“The launch of a joint public service in several localities is the first success story of the decentralization reform taking place in Moldova,” says Mihai Roscovan, programme manager of the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme (JILDP). JILDP supported the project of expanding sanitation services in Telenesti as part of the implementation of the decentralization reform, which aims to build the capacity of local authorities to manage public affairs and provide more affordable and quality local services to all people.

Approximately 25% of Moldovan municipalities have less than 1,500 inhabitants, and over 80% of them – less than 5,000 inhabitants. As European experience shows that launching public services in towns with less than 5,000 residents is difficult and unfeasible. The inter-municipal cooperation mechanism provides a viable solution to this problem.

By the end of 2015, the Joint Integrated Local Development Programme will launch 10 inter-municipal cooperation projects in various districts of Moldova.

The Programme is coordinated by the State Chancellery and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, with the financial support from the Governments of Denmark and Sweden, which together contributed with 7,25 mln US dollars.